Flarity Fortescue (Harmonyrules)
Flarity Ann Fortescue (20 September, 1980 – 2 May, 1998) was a pure-blood witch and the only child and daughter of Florean and Malinda Fortescue (née Smith). The first years of her life were marked with the first defeat of Lord Voldemort and the end of the First Wizarding War. Flarity attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from 1992 until her death in 1998. She was Sorted into Ravenclaw House and befriended the likes of fellow Ravenclaw Luna Lovegood and Gryffindor Ginny Weasley. In her fourth year, Flarity joined the ranks of Dumbledore's Army, an organisation taught and led by Harry Potter, where she met seventh years Robyn Abrams, Flynn Black, and Lisa Potter. She helped Harry, Ron, Hermione, Luna, Ginny, Neville, Robyn, Flynn, and Lisa escape Hogwarts on Thestrals in June 1996 before the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, though she did not participate in the battle herself. She did, however, participate in the Battle of the Astronomy Tower (1997), and witnessed the death of Albus Dumbledore at the hands of Death Eaters. Flarity returned to Hogwarts for her sixth year, though it had fallen under the control of Voldemort. With Ginny, Neville, and Luna, she co-led the reconstituted Dumbledore's Army, and participated in the Battle of Hogwarts (1998), where she was killed by Maelona Lestrange. Biography Early life (1980-1992) Flarity Fortescue was born to parents Florean and Malinda on 10 September, 1980 in Diagon Alley, London, England, in their home in the flat above Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. She lived a normal, happy life with her parents, and grew up helping them in the Ice Cream Parlour. She even became the namesake of the flavor "Flarity Frog Fudge," as chocolate frogs were her favorite candy. Her father, Florean, was also a dedicated magical historian, and raised Flarity on stories of the goblin revolts and of the Hogwarts founders. She took an instant liking for the wise Rowena Ravenclaw, and often asked for stories about her specifically. Her father always obliged. However, not everything was perfect within the Fortescue household. When Flarity was seven years old, her little brother, Martin, was born. His arrival was a welcome surprise to both of their parents, but he was born premature and was sickly and far too weak. Flarity watched her baby brother die only a few weeks after he was born, and was the reason Flarity had the ability to see Thestrals. Hogwarts years (1992-1998) Early years Flarity attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from 1992-1998, where she was Sorted into Ravenclaw House. Many of her fellow students knew who she was, as several had seen her at her father's ice cream parlor in Diagon Alley, but none appeared interested in forming a friendship with her. Therefore, most of her time was spent alone, and she took that time to learn more about herself and her place within the Wizarding World. She excelled in History of Magic, of course, but also in Charms, where her professor and Head of House, Professor Flitwick, took a great liking to her. She quickly surpassed the rest of the students in her year in Charms, learning the Summoning and Dispelling Charms as early as second year, though they were not a subject taught until fourth year. During this time, Flarity saw the Chamber of Secrets opened, where she along with the rest of Hogwarts discovered of fellow first-year Ginny Weasley's involvement with a strange diary; the escape of Sirius Black in her second year; and the Triwizard Tournament in her third year, where she watched Harry Potter compete as the fourth Triwizard Champion and win, but at too great a cost. It was at the end of Flarity's third year that Lord Voldemort arose once more. Fourth year During Flarity's fourth year at Hogwarts, Voldemort was on the rise, but acting in secret. Thus, the Ministry of Magic, led by Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge, refused to believe his return, instead turning to slander and libel against Headmaster Dumbledore and Harry Potter. Flarity, a devout Quibbler enthusiast and heavy skeptic of the Daily Prophet, fully believed that Harry and Dumbledore were telling the truth. Flarity despised the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Dolores Umbridge, though she never spoke a verbal word against her. She instead hoped of finding a way to secretly undermine her tyrannical rule, which presented itself to her in the form of a meeting in the Hog's Head Inn during a trip to Hogsmeade. Flarity stumbled across what would become the first ever meeting of Dumbledore's Army; at the time, it was just a group of around thirty combined Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuffs. Not wanting to be a bother, Flarity tried to dismiss herself, but was stopped by none other than Luna Lovegood, a fellow fourth-year Ravenclaw who had always noticed Flarity from afar. Like Flarity, Luna didn't have many friends, and was considered by many to be an outcast. Knowing this and knowing that the D.A. would be a good place to make friends, Luna convinced Flarity to stay for the meeting, and both of them joined, solidifying the beginnings of their friendship along with it. Flarity became a strong member of Dumbledore's Army, and developed fierce friendships with Luna as well as Gryffindors Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and, to a lesser extent, Hermione Granger. Flarity, Luna, and Ginny began their reign of terror on Umbridge, finding any way possible to get under her nerves during classes without doing anything explicitly against the rules, thereby keeping themselves out of trouble and out of detentions. During the final meeting of Dumbledore's Army, the group practiced conjuring Patronuses, the primary defense mechanism against dementors. Flarity, in her aptitude with Charms, was one of the first to conjure her corporeal Patronus, which took the form of a tortoise. Not long after, however, Dobby the House-Elf appeared, warning them that they had been betrayed and Umbridge was onto them. Flarity was able to escape, and continued to practice magic with Luna in their dormitory in Ravenclaw Tower. After Harry had his vision of his godfather, Sirius Black, being tortured, and he, Hermione, Ron, Neville, Ginny, and Luna, along with seventh-year Gryffindors Robyn Dumbledore, Flynn Black, and Lisa Potter decided on infiltrating the Department of Mysteries, Flarity assisted in their escape by helping to round up the Thestrals they would ride to the Ministry. She stayed behind, promising to watch over the school until they returned. She immediately ran and told Claire Brewer, who was serving as an assistant for Hagrid in Care of Magical Creatures. Claire notified the rest of the Order of the Phoenix, and left at once to help. Flarity's fourth year ended with the resignation of Fudge as Minister for Magic and the appointment of Rufus Scrimgeour as the new Minister, and the final admittance that Voldemort had, indeed, returned. Fifth year The summer before Flarity's fifth year was marked by a horrific tragedy. Her father Florean, was captured by Death Eaters because of his relation to Flarity and her ties to Dumbledore's Army. For over a month, Flarity and her mother waited in terror and fear, as members of the Order of the Phoenix, led by Nymphadora Tonks and Flynn Black, searched for Florean. Finally, on 3 August, 1996, he was returned to Flarity and Malinda, dumped on the doorstep by the Death Eaters that had captured him. He was gravely injured, and as Flarity and Malinda hurried to bring him inside, one of the Death Eaters, later recognized as Rodolphus Lestrange, laughed at the family, calling them "weak" and "spineless" for caring so much. He then shot a curse at Florean with his wand, slicing open his chest, before Disapparating with the other Death Eaters. Florean died only minutes later in Flarity and Malinda's arms. Flarity blamed herself for her father's death, believing that because she got too close to people, that was the reason her father died. Subsequently, once term started, Flarity began to close herself off from her friends. Ginny, Ron, Harry, and Hermione all saw Flarity drifting away, but allowed her to. Only Luna continued to reach out to Flarity. Over the course of Flarity's fifth year, Luna was the only person that Flarity maintained constant contact with. The new Potions Master, Professor Slughorn, reinstated his Slug Club at the beginning of term. Witnessing her skills in Charms and her attention to detail and curiosity in Potions, Slughorn offered Flarity a place in his Slug Club, but she declined, not wanting to become too attached to anyone she could lose. Flarity's fifth year continued mostly without circumstance, due to her increased isolation and sole contact being Luna Lovegood, who kept her updated with the goings-on of Hogwarts. That is, until one of the final days of term, when she and Luna, for the first time in a year, felt their fake Galleons burning in their pockets: Dumbledore's Army was needed. Flarity was hesitant to answer the summoning, but Luna insisted that she come along, so she did, and found herself thrown into a battle against Death Eaters. She came face-to-face with both Amycus and Alecto Carrow, and fought her hardest against them before being thrown to the floor and knocked out cold. She awoke in the hospital wing not long after to learn that Albus Dumbledore had been murdered by Severus Snape and that Robyn had escaped from Death Eater capture during the battle, though many there believed she had willingly turned to Voldemort's side. Flarity had no reason to believe this, and subsequently didn't; on the contrary, Flarity saw that Robyn looked as though she had been tortured, which was proof enough for her that her participation in the battle was forced. Flarity attended Dumbledore's funeral along with the rest of the school; she sat next to Luna, and did not utter a single word throughout the entire service. She didn't cry, either, having been completely devoid of tears since her father's death the previous summer. Sixth year Flarity and her mother decided that summer that Flarity was not going to be going back to Hogwarts, especially after her father's death and now Dumbledore's. They believed it would be safer if Flarity stayed home, away from what appeared to be the middle of the war. However, their plans were thwarted when the Ministry fell to Voldemort and the laws were changed, requiring all students to attend Hogwarts. Flarity joined Ginny, Neville, and Luna on the Hogwarts Express, where they were arrived at the new Death Eater-controlled Hogwarts. During their ride on the train, Death Eaters conducted a raid, searching for Harry Potter, but were unsuccessful, as he, along with Ron and Hermione, had supposedly gone into hiding; or at least, that was what Ginny told her, and she had no reason to believe otherwise. Flarity took part in the attempted theft of the Sword of Gryffindor with Ginny, Neville, and Luna, but were unfortunately caught by Severus Snape, the new Headmaster of Hogwarts, and were sent into the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid as punishment. Flarity saw this as very odd for a punishment from a Death Eater, and her sentiments were shared by the others who joined her in the forest. Flarity helped to revive and lead Dumbledore's Army, their main goal this time around to sabotage the Death Eaters' control of the school and to help Harry, Ron, and Hermione in any way that they could. On the Hogwarts Express back to London for Christmas break, Flarity watched as Luna was accosted and captured by Death Eaters and taken away, which Flarity could only assume was because of the pro-Harry Potter propaganda her father was publishing in the Quibbler. Christmas with Flarity's mother was quiet and uneventful. The two had learned to keep their heads down, and kept to themselves over the break. Ginny invited Flarity and her mother over for Christmas dinner, but the two agreed it was safer if they stayed separated. Returning to Hogwarts, Flarity, Ginny, Neville, and Luna continued the D.A., and Flarity found herself in detention quite often, which meant receiving the Cruciatus Curse from the Carrow siblings. This happened almost every other day, usually leaving Flarity a bloody, sunken, emaciated mess. Etymology Flarity is an iteration of the Irish name Flaherty, the reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Flaithbheartaigh (descendant of Flaithbheartach), meaning generous or hospitable. Her name was not known to have been inherited from any other family member. Based on the December 2014 information provided about Florean Fortescue on Pottermore, Flarity's last name is likely to have been influenced by John Fortescue, who wrote for the instruction of Prince Edward of Lancaster, Prince of Wales, in the time of the War of the Roses (15th century). Prince Edward died in battle at the age of 17, much like Flarity. Behind the scenes *Flarity Fortescue is portrayed by American actress Troian Bellisario as depicted throughout the story. *Unlike most of harmonyrules's characters, Flarity is not an orphan, though she does lose one of her parents during the war. *Flarity exists in the same universe as the Wrath of the Lion characters, being Robyn Dumbledore, Lisa Potter, Flynn Black, Rose Figg, Jacinda Bradley, and Rheinallt McLaughlin, and the Set Them Free characters, being Claire Brewer and Alexander Collins. *Flarity is the first of harmonyrules's main protagonists to die off in their book. Others include Alisa Potter from Alisa and the Hufflepuff, ''Christina Griffiths from ''Flowers, and Rheinallt McLaughlin from Me & the Devil. *Flarity was named after one of harmonyrules's closest friends. Appearances *Set Them Free *Heart of Stone *A Bit Queer *Heart of Fire *Heart of Gold Category:Females Category:Ravenclaws Category:Hogwarts students Category:Dumbledore's Army Category:Harmonyrules Multiverse Category:Wizards